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The Sagacious Buddhist Blog.
practical dharma teachings. questions|answers. essays.

answering your questions and teaching on buddhism, dharma, and enlightenment

- new teachings posted every 4 to 16 weeks, please subscribe to receive notifications -
update: I did it! :)


In the Spring of 2021, I left for Southeast Asia to renounce and ordain as an ascetic Theravada Buddhist forest monk, with a special emphasis on Early Buddhist doctrine and discourse.  I am no longer accepting students and I may be slow to respond to emails and contact form submissions; I apologise.

I will check-in periodically if I can when I post new teachings to my blog.

Much love & thank you.

How to Turn Your Practice into Progress Toward Buddhist Enlightenment (Q&A)

5/5/2021

7 Comments

 
Until you learn how to turn your meditation and dharma practice into progress, you will never experience Buddhist awakening, streamentry, or the benefits of your practice.
Meditation and Dharma Practice to Make Progress Toward Enlightenment Picture
In this reply to a student question, I cover the basics of making real progress with your dharma and meditation practice; how to cultivate it; and, why doing so is so important to attaining Awakening and Enlightenment.  Because this is an email to a student, it assumes a certain understanding of Buddhism on the part of the reader.
Thank you for your question; it can be easy to learn about Buddhism without actually knowing anything about how to actually turn all this Buddhism stuff into actual practice.  And without practice, it follows that we can't actually get good at it, and if we can't get good at it, then peace of mind, happiness, and enlightenment will forever be out of reach.  In order to get good at Buddhism, you must learn how to turn every moment into actual practice of the Buddha's teachings.  It's shocking how many teachers don't even mention this critical part.

"Practising in every moment" is probably the most important thing I do as a Buddhist.  Everything, absolutely everything, must be regarded through the lens of the dhamma; and, every moment must be regarded and leveraged as another opportunity to practice peace, harmony, and compassion. :)

Without understanding how to do this, progress along the Buddhist path is simply not possible, which explains why it is that so many people can be "Buddhists" and yet how so many don't seem to think, speak, or act anything like how Buddhists are expected to behave.  It also explains why so many people, despite so much time and effort on- and off-the-cushion, can't seem to calm their minds beyond the confines of those cushions nor develop the virtuous qualities that they spend so much time reading about, and so, they still struggle to apply the teachings and truly practice (to get better) when faced with even trivial challenges in life.

This is a field of practice that I call 'Practical Buddhism.'  And practice means pulling Buddhism out of the pages and off of the cushion and thrusting it front-and-center into the real world, such as at work, at home, and in life.
So, how does one practice in "every moment" of life?
Great question, let's dig in!

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7 Comments

How to Nurture Your "Buddha Nature" to Develop a Strong Sense of Happiness.

3/8/2021

11 Comments

 
Each one of us has the seed to be unshakeably happy and peaceful; and you don't have to be a Buddhist to have it.
(Alt. Title: Recognising and connecting with your inner-goodness cultivates happiness)
Photo of a group of happy and being peacefully people.
In this article, we will cover what Buddha Nature is, how to recognise it, nurture it, cultivate it, and leverage it for happiness and Enlightenment.
Buddha nature is not extensively covered in most popular Dharma books and many practitioners have only a loose understanding of the topic.  

As with all of the "big" topics in Buddhism, Buddha nature is deep and profound and entire volumes are written on this topic. This article serves to introduce and re-enforce the concept for those who are newer to the idea or would like to learn a bit more about it and how it can benefit their practice. The more you practice, the more you will come to recognise the qualities of Buddha nature flowing from you and the clearer and more practical your Buddha nature will be to you.

So what is "Buddha Nature"?

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11 Comments

Pity vs Compassion. How to spot the difference - Buddhism Explained Q&A

1/8/2021

6 Comments

 
Be a compassion expert by learning to stop pity at its root.
Compassion Versus Pity Heart Love Lamp Light
Great question, compassion and pity are quite commonly misunderstood.  And this is equally relevant to both Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.

While entire schools of Buddhism are anchored on the concept of compassion, and many compendia have been written on the topic, here's an easy way to spot the difference:

Read More
6 Comments

Mindfulness Meditation Not Working For You? Here's Why.

10/17/2020

3 Comments

 
There's a big problem with the Western Meditation movement that no one wants to talk about.  Until now.
Hasbro GI Joe's Spirit and Cobra's Storm Shadow Meditating Incorrectly
In this article, we will cover what's wrong with western meditation, how to fix your practice, and why it's so important to attaining Awakening and Enlightenment.
"I’ve been meditating for years, but if I'm being honest, I don’t really enjoy doing it. I meditate because I think I’m supposed to, but I mostly find it boring and it is not something that I like to do.

Will I ever enjoy doing it, or is that not the point?"
- Anonymous
If you can relate with the question above, then I have good news, I can tell you why: it's because you've been taught how to meditate incorrectly.  Boredom (or even having a restless mind) is a guaranteed sign that you aren't actually meditating, it's a sure sign that you're just sitting still...and yes, that's boring.  I understand that some practitioners aren't going to like reading the rest of this, because they have developed their own views and notions, but allow me to explain as this goes against the rote teaching in the West and there is a lot to gain from keeping an open mind on this subject; so let's dive right in!

(Warning: the text that follows may be considered seditious and incendiary. That is not the intent; the intent is to highlight and correct in no uncertain terms.)

COMMENT: Huh, so, I was taught to meditate wrong?

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3 Comments

What is Karma and What isn't Karma? - Buddhism Explained Q&A

7/22/2020

5 Comments

 
Perhaps one of the most widely misunderstood concepts in all of buddhism and eastern philosophy.
Photo: Buddha statue meditating on karma and buddha nature in a field of yellow tulips
What is Karma really? Is our life predetermined or do we have agency? And what does it have to do with who we are or what we experience?
In this short article, we will cover what Karma is and what it isn't; how it relates to destiny and free-will; and, its relationship to your happiness and your peace-of-mind.
Karma is one of the most widely misunderstood concepts in all of Buddhism and Eastern philosophy.

Before I start, let me get this out of the way right upfront: Karma is not a universal morality system; it's not a bad behaviour boomerang.  In Buddhism, there is no God watching over anyone, rewarding do-gooders and smiting wrong-doers.

So, what is Karma then?

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5 Comments

Why is thinking about Death is so important to Buddhists (and can it help you)? - Buddhism Explained

5/13/2020

6 Comments

 
Despite common misconceptions, buddhists are not obsessed with death, they are obsessed with happiness.
buddha meditating on death and will use analytical meditation to process it
Ask a Buddhist what's the number one cause of death, and the Buddhist will say: "birth."

While it's true that Buddhism has a deep interest in the subject of Death, it is just a true to say that Buddhism has a deep interest in a great number of the things that seem to plague the human experience.  However, the comfort with which Buddhists can talk about Death seems to make a lot of people uncomfortable and, as a result, it gets over-played in our media and culture.

So why does Buddhism have such a focus on Death?

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6 Comments

Analytical Meditation: What is it and how to do it - Buddhism Explained (Q&A Part Two)

4/21/2020

4 Comments

 
A very powerful, yet simple-to-understand practice.
Buddhist Analytical Meditation Blue Skies How To
Hi Michael, it's nice to see you again too.  Thank you so much for the help.  Let me see if I understand it clearly: what I usually end up doing is re-wording the meaning of the text, mainly so I can work with it in my head using my native language.  So should I also meditate on the words longer in order to burn the meaning into my core? Would that would be the right thing to do if I don't need to know the exact words?

- N.V.
Hi N.,

Thank you for your question to clarify your understanding.

We want to move away from recitations and start down the path of analytical meditation to help you get around your short-term memory issues; and rote memorisation does little for our understanding and insight, memory issues or not.

So how do you meditate analytically?  While there is a reason entire books and courses are written on this single topic, here is a simple process that you can use to start doing it today.

First of all, what is "analytical meditation" and how is it used?

Read More
4 Comments
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    Mike Turner Photo Buddhist Analytical Meditation Trainer
    Hi! My name is Mike Turner. I'm a Buddhist Ariyapuggala and I've spent over 25 years learning and cultivating what I do, and what I do goes far beyond meditation and dharma. 

    I work with dedicated Buddhist practitioners to help them attain streamentry. This kind of one-on-one training isn't readily available to lay practitioners and I hope to do my part. 

    I'm available for advanced and intermediate practitioners of meditation-and-dharma to help them significantly advance their practice and their progress toward Buddhist enlightenment.

    Please visit my home page to see what my streamentry and enlightenment training can do for you.
    "The only thing that prevents people from attaining Enlightenment and experiencing Nirvana directly is insufficient instruction and/or practice."
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    I offer authentic and transformative steamentry training and dharma life coaching and I encourage you to message me to learn more.
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Photo Michael Turner Buddhist Philosopher, Dharma Coach, Meditation Instructor, Business Leader, Sales Trainer, and Mentor
Michael Turner is a pre-monastic Buddhist Ariyapuggala and a deeply accomplished streamentry trainer and dharma life coach. He emphasises and teaches the practical application of Buddhism in our everyday lives to make real progress toward enlightenment and is particularly adept at explaining them in ways that can be easily understood and practiced by Western Buddhists. He has been meditating and cultivating the techniques to generate indestructible resilience and inner-strength for more than 25 years and has helped countless numbers of people enhance their practice to make clear progress along the Path.
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